Pura Vida Energy NL expects the Atwood Achiever Drillship to mobilise to the MZ-1 location within Pura Vida’s offshore Mazagan Permit in an area it refers to as offshore Morocco (sovereignty of the area is disputed between Morocco and those seeking an independent state of Western Sahara) and spud the well during April

MZ-1 will target the Ouanoukrim prospect, which has total gross unrisked mean prospective resources of over 1.4 billion barrels, with a high case of over 3.0 billion barrels.

In accordance with the schedule provided in its December quarterly report, the company has advised that the Atwood Achiever has completed a well in what it classes as offshore Morocco and has now moved to briefly complete a well offshore Mauritania for another operator before returning to handover to the Mazagan joint venture.

MZ-1 will target the Ouanoukrim prospect, which has total gross unrisked mean prospective resources of over 1.4 billion barrels, with a high case of over 3.0 billion barrels.

Pura Vida is carried for its’ 23 per cent interest in the MZ-1 well for up to USD 215m.

Pura Vida’s Managing Director, Damon Neaves, said: “We look forward to receiving handover of the Atwood Achiever Drillship to commence our first well offshore Morocco. The MZ-1 well is targeting a series of up to five stacked targets in both the Cretaceous and Jurassic. A discovery will be transformational for Pura Vida.”